OCZ Vector 180 480 Gigabyte Review

With their Vector series, OCZ reportedly has drives in their portfolio, which are fast and reliable. Today OCZ is launching their latest model, which goes by the name Vector 180. Compared to the already successful predecessor - Vector 150 - this one should offer even higher sustained performance and apart from that the drive ships with the new management software SSD Guru. ﻿

It has been
about one and a half
years, that OCZ released their Vector 150 series SSDs. In our review on the
predecessor of the Vector 180 we mentioned that it is a solid drive, which performed very good.
So good in fact, that it can even keep up with today's drives. So, what could be
possible improvements on the new Vector 180?

First of all we want to have a look at what stayed the same. Interestingly OCZ
didn't touch the controller. The Vector 180 uses the same Indilinx IDX500M00-BC,
which has already been used in the predecessor. Apparently the Barefoot 3
controller is highly capable and a good platform for the future.

Talking about improvements: First of all there is now also a drive that features
960 Gigabyte capacity. In the case of the Vector 150 capacity was limited to 480
Gigabyte and if you wanted to go for a larger drive, you had to either choose a
Revo drive or SSDs from another manufacturer. Furthermore OCZ is putting a
strong focus on the bundle. Next to the new management software SSD Guru, about
which we'll be talking on one of the last pages, the Vector 180 is now covered
by the Shieldplus warranty plan. If a customer is under the impression that a
drive is defective it can be sent to OCZ. There service technicians check if the
drive is actually damaged. Should that be the case, the customer immediately
receives a new drive whereas return shipment costs are being covered by OCZ.

At this point we also want to have a quick look at what's inside the actual box:
next to the drive itself we can find a copy of Acronis True Image as well as a
3.5 inch adapter bracket. Therefore also the this part of the bundle is
complete.